Sunday, May 25, 2008

12 sailors are doing the Laser camp at PCYC this weekend. This photo was taken as they returned from the on the water portion of Saturday. Apparently there was broken and lost gear, but it appears to be a great start to the 2 day camp with coaching, on and off the water, meals, and a BBQ last night, all included. I met sailors from BDYC, PCYC, and Venture Sailing Base, and there were others too. It looks like a very promising start to the Laser class season. Well done Louis! Oh and here's some news. Pierre Jasmin, one of Montreal Sailing's Top Dawgs was there with a Laser too. Apparently, he would like to try some Master Laser regattas. Thanks to Toby's generosity, I hope to get a lesson on his Laser, some practise at Venture, then pick one up myself in the fall.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Time to race, not work on the hard! This is my work in progress. Since the photo I have buffed the hull and am currently redoing the keel before dipping into the water and joining the racing.

The first race in the Good Neighbours' Series (GNS) was held last night with the practice race. I'm still ashore working on boats (yeah, plural!), but saw some of the action from BYC's hill overlooking the water. I noted Peter Rahn's green Shark looking like a boat to beat, as he was doing very well at the front of the pack. Apparently, a lot of skippers thought they may not have finished the course properly. Unusual for a GNS race, a gate seemed to be in place. At least so it appeared from shore. Many skippers worried that they did not finish on the correct side of a leeward mark, but there seemed to be quite a bit of confusion. A check of the sailing instructions online, both at PCYC and BYC do not show a gate or any variation from the usual courses and finishing. So, perhaps my view from ashore was not accurate. However, there is a note on the club websites mentioning an amendment to the instructions, though they are not actually available online. Perhaps they are at the club offices in paper form.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Here is a great development. District 2 (Quebec) of the Laser Class is holding a training camp at PCYC. This announcement is from their blog which you can get to by clicking the title. For all the Montreal sailors who want to single-hand, go high performance, go simple, or go cheap, here is a great option. According to Louis, 13 sailors are signed up so far, which is plenty strong for a good week end. From this corner of the course, best wishes for a growing fleet! - Ralph, Montreal Sailing.

The MHPC is less than a week away and we are excited to get on the water to begin the 2008 season. Our lineup of coaches and speakers are outstanding and we feel that the 2008 edition of the MHPC will not disappoint the 10 registered teams from ON, QC, PEI, NS and Bermuda.

Lead Coach Tyler Bjorn is just returning from a long winter in Florida where he spent the majority of his time training and preparing for the 2008 Star World Championships. “It was a long winter of training and prep for that one event. It was a great experience and I learned a lot. I look forward to this year’s camp to pass on the techniques and experiences I have gained.” said Bjorn.

Skiff Guru and Cross Fit instructor Matt Dubreucq will once again be leading the fitness session and is our most experienced skiff sailor. Matt has been learning more and more on high performance sailing scene since his return from Australia and the 18 Foot Skiff circuit in 2006. Having just been certified as a Cross fit instructor, Matt will be leading our fitness session. “I have been focusing on my sailing for more than 10 years now and love to work with the young athletes and help them develop discipline and focus in the overall preparation to the sport of sailing.” Matt was Coach to the Canadian Youth World Sailing Team in 2007 and will once again coach the Team in 2008.

Rounding out the coaching Team is Stephan Locas and Marc Farmer. Stephan will be representing Canada in Beijing in the 470 Class. Stephan is one of Canada’s greatest stories this Olympic cycle. He and teammate Oliver Bone are a great example of dedication and perseverance towards one of sailing hardest goals The Olympic Games. Marc is one of Canada most decorated 29er sailors having won the Gold in the 2005 Canada Games and holds the best overall performance for Canada in a 29er Worlds Championship.

On the Speaker front we have Dr. Wayne Halliwell. Dr. Halliwell is one of Canada’s most experience and well know Sports Psychologists and has helped and long list of athletes and teams to some of our countries greatest successes such as the 5 consecutive Gold medals for our National Jr Hockey Team. Anwar Stewart is a Star on Montreal’s CFL football team. As a motivational speaker Anwar works with all sorts of local community organizations and provides a great story on perseverance and dedication that is needed to becomesuccessful in not only football and sports but in life in general.

For more information on registration and the camp in general please contact Tyler Bjorn at tylerbjorn@mac.comMontreal High Performance Camp 2008Phone: 514 209 5953Email:tylerbjorn@mac.comWebsite: montrealhighperformancecamp.com

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Two men whose rowboat capsized in the St. Lawrence River may have been swamped by a wave, Montreal police say. The coast guard and Montreal firefighters were using boats and a helicopter Monday to search for one man who remained missing. "We do believe at this time that it's a wave that hit the boat," said Const. Yannick Ouimet of the Montreal police, although he added the exact cause has not been determined. The search was to end at dusk and police are to re-evaluate the situation in the morning, Ouimet said.

The boat capsized around 10 a.m. on Monday. The 51-year-old man managed to cling to it for two hours before slipping away. His 37-year-old companion managed to hang on for another 90 minutes before being rescued by family members who came along in another boat. The men were on their way to a nearby island to renovate a cottage.

The rescued man was treated for minor hypothermia and released from hospital. He told police the boaters were only a few hundred metres from shore when the boat hit a wave and flipped. Police say the men were not wearing life-jackets but remain optimistic the other boater will be found.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Last night's fundraising party for Oliver Bone and Stéphane Locas was a big success. The team were beneficiaries of a big turn out supporting their campaign to compete at the Olympics this year. Bone and Locas are Canada's entry in the 470 class. A large and appreciative audience were entertained by the Sharx, who played a lot of boomer stuff. The Sharx, including a good number of local Shark sailors, pumped out hits from the 60's through early 80's by the Stones, Van Morrison, Styx, and even a bit of Elvis. A popular Jin Frati showed his versatility playing percussion, flute and sax. William Shishakly showed his dark, brooding brilliant persona, never leaving the stool in the second row, but playing colourful licks on lead guitar. Keith Rasmussen kept the audience swaying and the hot babes dancing with his rhythms. The evening's concert was delayed by last night's hockey game shown on a large screen. While the crowd did cheer the Canadians on, I still had to wonder if showing the Habs's last game was really essential. Could it be the Sharx star status, the big time, has led to a prima donna complex of its 8 members. Aren't rock stars always late? Was this really hockey mania? Anyway, the crowd did seem to want it all, as I noticed quite a few Habs jerseys interspersed in the crowd with Gill sailing attire. The large turn out also showed that sailing is still enjoyed across the age spans. There were plenty of young dinghy jocks in the audience, yet also a strong turn out of older sailors as well from the ranks of Tanzer and Shark classes. BYC of course came out in strong numbers but the support for Bone & Locas as well as the appeal of the Sharx was evident across a large and varied crowd. Good on the lovely "Redhead" and everyone responsible for a great event and raising a good number of bucks towards Beijing!